REVIEW: ‘Undercover Miss Hong’ Episodes 1-2

In the latest Netflix KDrama comedy series, Undercover Miss Hong (Eondeokeobeo Misseu Hong), Park Shin-hye gets to slip on her comedic shoes again to deliver undercover workplace shenanigans galore. Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-2 lay down the groundwork for what’s at stake for Park’s character, much of which involves actual attempts on her life and pretending to be a 20-year-old to get some hidden intel to crack open a corruption case that has been the bane of her existence for over nine years. 

Upon our introduction to Hong Keum-bo (Park Shin-hye), it’s immediately clear that she takes great joy in having the upper hand on others and in unearthing corruption in the system. Even if it means making enemies among her coworkers at the Financial Supervisory Division. After a recent case paves the way for a promotion, she becomes the right-hand person of Director Yun Jae-beom (Kim Won-hae), who positions her to lead the investigation against Hanmin Investment & Securities.

Across Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-2, Hanmin Investment Securities is almost akin to a Hydra. From Kang Pil-eum (Lee Deok-hwa), the company’s founder, to even the secretaries, there are people determined to ensure the company will not be investigated at any cost. For anyone who tries to get in the way, the company will eradicate them. This is something Keum-bo comes to know dearly after her informant, Pil-eum’s son and CEO of Hanmin, Kang Myeong-hwi (Choi Won-young), is killed for talking to her.

An unlikely scheme introduced in Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-2 paves the way for chaos.

In a quick succession of events, Keum-bo loses her position and her case, but a further fire is lit under her butt. This inspires a ridiculous scheme that could only really work in the ’90s setting that the series is set in. The Director suggests Beum-go disguise herself as a 20-year-old and get hired as an entry-level employee in Hanmin. Once inside, she can investigate the ins and outs of the company at her leisure, find the slush fund ledger, and hopefully, bring the company down.

This scheme quickly becomes the point of many a joke and plot-related concern in Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-2, mostly centered around Keum-bo’s older appearance and her work habits. That and her ability to command attention. After her sister (Shin Yu-na) gives her a makeover to make her look like a 20-year-old, a test to see if she’ll be carded turns into a meet-cute with a future coworker, Albert Oh (Cho Han-gyeol), who can’t resist the weird attraction he feels for the woman.

It’s then that Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-2 follows Keum-bo, disguised as Hong Jang-mi, as she figures out the lay of the land and the people around her. She immediately homes in on Secretary Go Bok-hee (Ha Yoon-kyung) as someone she needs to win over. Except that Bok-hee is on her way out. Without a college education and hitting the age restriction placed on the job for single women, Bok-hee’s job is at risk, so Episode 2 finds Keum-bo trying to find a way to help her out, including using what she remembers of her ex to help Bok-hee win him over.

What it meant to be a woman in ’90s corporate culture is depicted well (but maybe a little sanitized).

If that wasn’t enough to distract Keum-bo from her purpose, her ex-boyfriend, Shin Jung-woo (Ko Kyung-pyo), joins Hanmin as the new CEO. This arrival shatters part of the image of Keum-bo built up across Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-2. In the first episode, she’s completely dedicated to her work to the point of swearing off love. In Episode 2, however, flashbacks and her general avoidance of him in the office show that she still harbors feelings for him. 

In all honesty, there’s a lot thrown in Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-2 that can be completely overwhelming upon first viewing. When Keum-bo is not focusing on identifying the whistleblower who was assisting Myeong-hwi, she’s building relationships with her coworkers and making their lives easier, in a way befitting a woman her age rather than the 20-year-old she’s attempting to portray. And when we’re not focusing on her, we pivot to Hanmin’s inner workings and discussions about inheritance.

It is the latter that proves to be the weakest story-wise so far. The two would-be heirs are in over their heads, with their respective parents pulling the strings rather than letting their kids live their own lives. It’s a familiar enough storyline in these workplace dramas that it can be easy to write off. However, based on what we’ve seen in Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-2, Albert Oh, in particular, as a potential heir of Hanmin, presents a fascinating dilemma of a man who is caught between what is expected and what he wants to pursue – film.

While we don’t get much time with him, Jung-woo is primed to shake things up.

Similarly, Go Bok-hee, as a character, proves to both the audience and Keum-bo that not everyone is as they seem to be. Towards the end of Episode 2, a revelation about the character that blows everything we thought we knew about them out of the water. While her involvement with President Kang and how it might be linked to his death already put a target on her back, what gets revealed in the final hour shows that getting Bok-hee on her side may not be all that it’s cracked up to be.

Already in Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-2, there are layers upon layers of mystery to uncover, wrapped in the intricate complexities of corporate life. Going undercover is a daunting task for anyone, let alone a 35-year-old woman forced to return to the starting point of her career to dig up dirt. It’s too big a scheme not to fail. Yes, Keum-bo looks too old to be 20, a comment made by several in the office, and she can’t help coming across as intelligent and nosy – a dangerous combo in an already suspicious organization.

Yet, it is through Park Shin-hye’s commitment and natural comedy that you buy into the possibility that her Keum-bo may possibly succeed at her task. While Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-2 cover a lot of ground, introducing us to many characters and varying plots, it’s hard not to get swept up in Park Shin-hye’s Keum-bo and the seriousness with which she tackles everything thrown her way. I can’t wait to see what this character ends up doing next, and that’s enough to keep going.

Undercover Miss Hong Episodes 1-4 are streaming now on Netflix.